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Tim Kennedy
Tim Kennedy is a retired middleweight fighter. Strikeforce Run He most recently defeated Trevor Prangley, impressively outwrestling Prangley and finishing him via rear-naked choke in the very first round. He made quite a quick turnaround to compete with jiu jitsu ace Ronaldo Souza for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title. Souza defeated Kennedy via relatively close unanimous decision to win the belt. Kennedy was next rumored to fight a rubber match against Jason Miller. Instead, he was next set to face fellow prospect Luke Rockhold. No, instead he faced Melvin Manhoef. Kennedy had early trouble with Manhoef's surprisingly improved takedown defense but eventually he brought the hard-hitting kickboxer to his domain on the ground and submitted him via first-round rear-naked choke. After the fight, Kennedy called out recent middleweight title challenger Robbie Lawler. Nothing seemed to come of it. A few months later, Kennedy began feuding on Twitter with UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping. The exchanges prompted rumors that Kennedy would head to the UFC and make his debut against Michael Bisping. Kennedy began begging with the UFC for the fight. He even offered his fight purse up for charity "if he could get a crack at Bisping." Nothing came of the feud, and Bisping instead coached The Ultimate Fighter against Jason Miller. Kennedy next faced fellow Strikeforce contender and UFC veteran Robbie Lawler. He defeated Lawler via comfortable unanimous decision. Despite rumors that he would make an immediate move into the UFC, Kennedy was next set for a second Strikeforce middleweight title shot against champion Luke Rockhold. Rockhold defeated Kennedy via a dominant unanimous decision. Kennedy next signed to face Trevor Smith on Strikeforce's last event. After a great fight, Kennedy defeated Smith via third round guillotine choke submission to earn his way into the UFC. UFC Run He next signed to make his UFC debut against Roger Gracie. He defeated Gracie via an impressive but less than exciting unanimous decision. Kennedy signed for the biggest fight of his career against former UFC light-heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort in Belfort's native Brazil. The winner would likely get a shot at the winner of the UFC middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. The fight instead never materialized. Kennedy stated publicly that he would face former UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida who was moving down to middleweight. Machida accepted the fight. That fight unfortunately did not materialize either as Machida was pulled out to replace Michael Bisping against Mark Munoz. Kennedy next proceeded to call out the retired former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Rafael Natal instead stepped in to replace Machida against Kennedy in the main event of the third UFC Fight for the Troops event. Kennedy knocked out Natal in the very first round in front of his fellow servicemen. Kennedy next called out Michael Bisping. Bisping replied, "Don't start acting hard because you knocked out some random Brazilian. News flash, NO ONE GIVES A FUCK. If you want it. April, let's go." Kennedy fired back immediately, "You are conveniently a tough guy when you are still hiding behind that eye patch of yours." Bisping was in no mood for games, answering with "Well it's simple. Call the UFC and say you wanna fight me in April. Put your money where your mouth is big shot." Later that month Bisping grew tired of Kennedy's jabs and finally demanded, "Listen pussy, it's real simple. I've never 'chickened' out of shit in my life. Just ask Dana White for the fight." After a few months of delay so that Bisping's eye injury could be cleared, the fight was finally signed for April 2014. There was plenty more trash talk exchanged between the two but the most important exchanges took place inside the Octagon that night. Kennedy dominated Bisping with grappling -- and to a lesser degree, striking -- en route to an upset unanimous decision victory. It was the biggest victory to date in Kennedy's career. Romero Fight and Hiatus Kennedy next signed to fight powerful wrestler Yoel Romero. After a fight marked by controversy on both sides Romero defeated Kennedy via a bloody third round technical knockout. After the Romero fight Kennedy took about two years away from the sport using the time to film a show called Hunting Hitler among other things and genuinely talking a lot on Twitter about fighting without ever actually signing up to fight. Return Finally in mid August 2016 Kennedy signed to return to the UFC against former UFC light-heavyweight champion and middleweight newcomer Rashad Evans. The fight would take place in the UFC's first event at Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately mere days before the fight Evans was forced to pull out of the fight. Kennedy half-heartedly called out fan favorite Nick Diaz but to no avail. Evans and Kennedy were both still paid their 'show money.' The fight was soon rescheduled for the next numbered event which would be UFC 206. Evans didn't pass the medicals for that event either and Kennedy was left without an opponent for some time. He finally signed to fight against Kelvin Gastelum who had missed weight for the Madison Square Garden card and was now being forced to move up permanently from welterweight to middleweight. There was certainly a storyline there as Kennedy had been outspoken against that sort of behavior in the past. Despite some slight early success by Kennedy, Gastelum soon took over the fight and began to relentlessly batter Kennedy with punching and kicking combinations. No one doubted 37-year-old Kennedy's toughness as he took a heinous amount of punishment before finally folding and succumbing to a third round TKO. A few months later in mid-January 2017 Kennedy decided to announce his retirement from mixed martial arts at the age of 37. Fights *Tim Kennedy vs. Ryan McGivern *Jason Miller vs. Tim Kennedy 2 - Jason Miller was 2-0 against pinatas on his way to the ring. *Tim Kennedy vs. Elias Rivera *Nick Thompson vs. Tim Kennedy - The fight was Kennedy's Strikeforce debut, and that of Nick Thompson's as well. The fight was at middleweight, while Thompson was usually a welterweight. *Tim Kennedy vs. Zak Cummings - The fight was the first loss for Zak Cummings. *Ronaldo Souza vs. Tim Kennedy - The fight was for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title. *Tim Kennedy vs. Robbie Lawler *Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy - The fight was for the Strikeforce middleweight title with Luke Rockhold defending. *Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith *Yoel Romero vs. Tim Kennedy *Kelvin Gastelum vs. Tim Kennedy - The fight was Kelvin Gastelum's forced return to middleweight after missing weight at welterweight. After the fight Tim Kennedy retired from mixed martial arts. Category:Middleweight fighters Category:Soldiers Category:Retired fighters